


Love Beneath the Stars

by eternitywrites



Series: Tumblr DMMd Secret Santa Fics [1]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, Crushes, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-08 21:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1137819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternitywrites/pseuds/eternitywrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoba gets hurt sticking up for Noiz at school one day, so at night Noiz invites him on a romantic assignation in repayment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Beneath the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> What basically amounted to a secret santa gift for [geewizkhalifa](http://geewizkhalifa.tumblr.com/) about their Noiz and Aoba childhood AU fanart series, based on [this adorable piece of theirs](http://geewizkhalifa.tumblr.com/post/67292313708) in particular.

With a grunt, Noiz grabbed the Seragaki household’s back fence and swung his body over it, landing just shy of Grandma Tae’s tiny garden. It was a move he had performed countless times over the years, but that part always made him a little anxious. He didn’t care to find out how she’d react if she found his footprints all over her vegetable sprouts.

Light shown from the sliding glass doors that led out to the veranda on the second floor. Good. Noiz felt for one of the pebbles in his pocket, heart beating fast in his ears. He wasn’t afraid of getting caught, but the idea of performing this classic technique to get Aoba to come outside with him gave him the jitters in a whole different sense.

An easy flick of his wrist sent the pebble flying. It pelted the door with a satisfyingly loud sound, but there was no response from inside. Noiz pouted and sent another pebble at it after waiting a beat.

He ended up throwing rocks at Aoba’s room for an embarrassingly long few minutes.

“Answer already,” he muttered, rolling his final pebble between his fingers. It wasn’t as if approaching the front door like a normal visitor had not occurred to him…he just thought it would ruin the mood he was trying to set.

Whatever mood that was.

Letting out a sharp, frustrated sigh, he threw his last rock with a little more force than necessary. As soon as it left his hand he saw a flash of blue through the glass. Unfortunately, his grin of relief slid off his lips as quickly as it appeared, because Aoba ended up opening the door just as the rock flew up to meet it.

“Ow! What the _heck_?!” The pebble hit Aoba right in the face, making him reel back. His yell was so loud it set off a chorus of startled barks and shrieking meows from the dogs and cats that lived around the neighborhood.

Noiz pressed a hand to his mouth. So much for that mood he was aiming for. He had to have just broken some kind of world record for how quickly he managed to screw things up.

More muffled shouting, this time coming from somewhere inside Aoba’s house. No doubt Grandma Tae had noticed the commotion.

“I-it’s nothing!” Aoba cried into the house. “I, uh, stubbed my toe on the table! I’ll try and keep it down, sorry!”

“Are you okay?” asked Noiz as Aoba slid the veranda door shut behind him, doing his best not to sound too sheepish.

“First Shin, then Granny, and now you.” Aoba held an icepack to one of his eyes while rubbing the spot where the pebble hit him with his free hand. “What is it with everybody hating my face today?”

“I don’t hate your face,” said Noiz at once. “It was an accident.” Then he narrowed his eyes. “You told me Grandma wouldn’t get mad at you for fighting.”

“She didn’t!”

Noiz frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Not _really_ mad,” he amended. “She smacked me upside my head and yelled at me, but she also made me meat stew for dinner and she didn’t ground me or anything.”

“So…she’s still okay with me coming over tomorrow?”

Aoba nodded. “It’s fine. I’m the one who threw the punches, so it’s not your fault. She isn’t angry with you. She understands.”

Noiz looked away. Aoba said dumb stuff like that far too often for his liking.

“So,” he continued, drawing Noiz’s attention back to him. “What’s so important right now that you couldn’t wait until tomorrow to tell me?”

“Well.” Noiz kept his expression straight easily enough, but he could still feel his neck get uncomfortably hot. “You can’t see the stars during the day, right?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “You’re always complaining about how you can’t see the stars from your house. I wanted to take you somewhere where it’d be easier to look at them.”

“Really?” Aoba leaned over the rail, a devious smile spreading across his face. “And you even called me down by throwing rocks at my window instead of using a phone like everyone else. Might as well blast sappy pop songs through your music player, while you're at it.”

“Shut up.” His neck burned even more. Aoba’s burst of excited laughter at his response did little to help matters. “Do you want to go or not?”

“Hold on, I’ll be right down! Just let me tell Granny where we’re going, first.”

“You don’t have to — ”

But Aoba was already walking back into his house, speaking loudly enough for him to catch some of the words before he slid the door shut: “Hey, Granny! Noiz is here and he wants…!”

Noiz winced. He had meant for this outing to be more secretive. At least the trip didn’t seem like it was going to be a complete failure, so he supposed a few bumps in the road along the way were fine.

It wasn’t long before Aoba was back, having stepped outside the ground floor back door to meet him.

“She said I just need to be back before eleven,” he announced, walking up to him. “And she also said you should stay over for dinner tomorrow.”

“Sure,” said Noiz, who automatically jumped at any and all chances to stay away from his own house for as long as possible. He was distracted, however, by Aoba’s face. Without the icepack covering it, the ugly bruise around his eye was clearly visible even under the weak light of the backyard lamp.

“How does it look?” asked Aoba, noticing where Noiz’s attention was focused.

Noiz reached out and very carefully brushed Aoba’s bangs away from his face, the better to examine his injury. It had swollen even more since he last saw it right before they parted ways after school.

“Looks stupid,” Noiz said at last.

“What?! Well, _my bad_ , then.” Aoba huffed and turned his head away from Noiz’s reach. “I guess I should have asked Shin to give me a cool-looking bruise, instead.” He stuck his tongue out.

“He wanted to start crap with me, not you. You shouldn’t have gotten hurt. That’s why it looks stupid. It’s not supposed to be there at all.”

Aoba became serious in an instant. “I told Shin what would happen if he kept bullying you, didn’t I? I had to show him I meant what I said.”

“You should have let me handle it,” Noiz insisted. “I win more fights than you do.”

“Then you would have gotten in way more trouble with your parents than I ever do with Granny.” Aoba smiled as if to reassure him. “C’mon, Noiz, you know I always have your back! I don’t mind taking hits for you. This one doesn’t even hurt that much.”

That was what frightened him slightly when it came to Aoba. Because Aoba was smaller than him, _weaker_ than him, but he still tried to act like some kind of shield for Noiz. And he did it all without expecting a single thing in return from him. It had been this way from the very beginning.

In a way it actually made Noiz angry. Where was Aoba’s sense of self-preservation? There were better things for him to do than stick his neck out for a taciturn outcast like Noiz.

Now Aoba was squinting at him suspiciously. “I can tell you’re just dying to say something. Out with it.”

Noiz avoided his stare. “I really don’t understand you,” he mumbled. “Stop getting hurt for my sake. It’s not worth it.”

“This again?” Aoba sighed. “Sorry, but no. I can't help it.” He went over to the gate door and unlocked it. “You’re the one who got me to act like this in the first place.”

“How so?”

“‘Just do what you want. Who cares what other people think?’ That was one of the things you told me when we first met.” He looked back at Noiz, smiling again, but this time his cheeks were also a little pink. “So that’s what I try to do now. Even if you don’t think I should be doing it, I…”

He held out his hand. It was not something they did very often now that they were older, but Noiz still grabbed it without a second of hesitation. “I’m just doing what I want,” he continued quietly. “So I don’t regret getting socked in the face. It was worth it to me.”

Noiz wrapped his fingers tightly around Aoba’s. He wanted to say so many things to Aoba right then and there. Words of gratitude, of wonder, of joy. Why did Aoba so stubbornly think otherwise of him when everyone else Noiz had encountered in his young life liked to let him know in no uncertain terms that he was a problem kid too troublesome to deal with? Maybe they were simply both weirdos.

“Noiz? You still in there?”

Or maybe it didn’t matter. Aoba was there for him. He was there for Aoba. And in that moment he swore to himself that he would do everything in his power to make Aoba happy. Because words — even though he knew a lot of big ones in two languages most kids his age could barely even spell, let alone understand — just didn’t cut it in the long run.

“Hellooooo?”

He gave Aoba’s hand a squeeze before letting go and strolling through gate. “You’re too loud. Let’s get out of here before one of your neighbors calls the cops about a disturbance.”

“You’re such a jerk!” Aoba followed him out, pushing him so that he stumbled a little on the sidewalk. “I was showing _concern_. You know, the thing that best friends do when they care a lot about each other?”

“You complain too much, too,” said Noiz, mentally patting himself on the back for how casual he made himself sound despite how weirdly light and soft his chest felt.

 

* * *

 

“Wait. Here?”

“Yep,” said Noiz calmly. “Right here.”

They were standing in front of the middle school they attended. Aoba eyed the thick padlock around the iron gate doors and then looked at Noiz dubiously. “Uh, I think I detect a little flaw in your master plan.”

“Goes to show what you know.” Noiz took out a ring strung heavy with a set of keys and spun it around on his finger, his lips quirking up slightly. Aoba gasped.

“When did you — !”

“I doubled back to the teachers' office after school let out.”

Aoba bit his lip. “Man, I don’t know about this. We're gonna get in _so_ much trouble if we get caught.”

“Then we won't get caught.” Noiz had expected Aoba’s attitude, so he wasn’t hurt by his sudden reluctance. “They don’t have security cameras or alarms installed here. Keep a lookout, alright?”

Aoba slid in front of Noiz, using his body to block him from the sight of anyone who might be near as Noiz began testing keys on the gate lock. Cars would pass by on occasion, but other than that the streets were quiet and empty.

“Would you calm down?” asked Noiz after a while of silent concentration. Nervousness emanated from Aoba like angry sparks.

“Don't tell me to calm down,” Aoba muttered back. “This is breaking and entering!”

“We’re not here to vandalize anything. I’ll put the keys back where I found them and they’ll never know we’ve been here,” he replied, keeping his voice even to soothe him. “Ah, I got it.” The padlock opened with a sharp click.

“Let’s go before we’re seen,” Aoba mumbled, dodging through the crack in the gate Noiz held open for him. Noiz slipped through, too. He then stuck his arms through the bars and hung the key back on its latch, adjusting it so that it looked as if it was secured to anyone who happened to pass by.

“Difficult part’s done,” said Noiz, pleased by how smoothly things were going so far.

“Why are you just standing there? We need to hurry!” Aoba was behind him, pushing at his shoulder blades so that he’d move faster toward the main building. “I swear, if none of those keys work on the front door…”

But Noiz was able to unlock the the main building with the second key, and Aoba’s vague threat went unfinished. They sneaked inside and headed up the stairs to the roof, Aoba so close to Noiz that he was practically clinging to the back of his shirt.

“We should have brought a flashlight,” he heard Aoba say under his breath. He kept flinching at the slightest sound.

Noiz glanced behind him, smirking just to rattle his cage a bit more. “Aren’t you supposed to be the older one, here? Why are you so scared? You’re jumpier than my rabbit.”

Aoba grumbled and prodded him in the ribs, making Noiz snicker even as Aoba's fingers stung him. “I’m not scared, you bunny-loving doofus, I’m worried!”

“Hardly a difference.”

“There totally is! What if we run into a teacher, huh? What'll we do, then?”

“Just leave it to me,” said Noiz. “I’ll think of something to say so that you don’t get in too much trouble.”

“So that _we_ don’t get in too much trouble.” He could feel Aoba’s stern stare trying to melt a hole in the back of his head. Noiz simply shrugged.

“Whatever. The fact is that we're the only ones here and you know it. Stop trying to give yourself a heart attack, would you?” He stopped and stood aside, pointing at the door that led out of the stairwell and onto the roof. “After you, Aoba.”

“Right, and this is the part where we find out that there _is_ a school alarm and it’s actually tripped by the roof exit.”

Noiz rolled his eyes. “That’s stupid. Just open the door, already.”

“Fine.” Apparently all out of snippy comments, Aoba roughly twisted the doorknob and pushed it open, almost stumbling outside in his haste.

Noiz hung back, waiting for his reaction as cold night air filled the stairwell. Spikes of anxiety shot through his lungs. The weatherman had proved accurate in predicting a cloudless sky for tonight, but what if he had miscalculated the clarity of the stars from up here? Their school wasn’t too high up and it was completely possible that the city lights and the smog would overpower their view. Suddenly, Noiz couldn’t help but wonder if he had thought this plan all the way through after all.

“Hey,” he called to Aoba, hoping he sounded neutral enough. “Well? What do you think?”

Aoba’s expression was blank. “What do I think of — oh, yeah! The sky.”

It was almost enough to make Noiz slap a hand to his forehead. He would forget.

Aoba tilted his head up and made a sound of delight, wiping all of Noiz’s quiet anxieties away. “It’s _amazing!_ Noiz, what are you doing still standing in there? You have to look at this!” He made frantic hand gestures at him, his eyes glued heavenward.

“Keep your pants on. I’m coming.” Noiz gave a cursory look up as he joined Aoba outside. It was nice, he had to admit. Bright stars were sprinkled liberally all over the dark canvas of the nighttime sky, twinkling their cold, hard light down at them. Considering the proximity of the city buildings and the combined power all of their artificial lights, it was probably some kind of miracle they could see them as well as they did.

However, Noiz couldn’t drum up too much interest in the sights above them. The sight in front of him, of one happy and fascinated Aoba, took up all of his focus.

Once close enough, Aoba blindly reached for Noiz’s shirtsleeve and tugged it down, slowly sinking to the floor as he did so. Noiz followed suit. They were near the spot they usually ate at during school lunch hour. During the day it was nothing special, but Noiz knew that from then on he'd be able to recall every detail of their little hangout spot. Especially the way it looked at night.

“You’re not too cold, are you?” asked Aoba in a soft voice, shifting in his loose, comfy blue hoodie as a gust of cool wind swept over them.

“I’m fine. Don't worry about me.” 

Neither spoke for a long time afterward. That didn’t bother Noiz, either. He liked their quiet moments together just as much as their rowdy, playful moods. And it gave him some time to look at Aoba — really look at him — while Aoba hugged his knees and observed the stars.

And maybe that was a mistake, because Noiz couldn’t help but notice a bunch of things he liked about him. Like the ridiculous color of his hair and how soft it felt on the rare occasions he was allowed to touch it; how his smile was almost always so truthful and infectious; his expressive eyes and they way the saw things in a manner that cut through the dull dreariness Noiz might have experienced had he looked at something on his own.

He really was thankful that his family transferred to Japan when they did. He didn’t like to think about how deep he would have sunken into an unfeeling rut had he remained in Germany. Meeting Aoba was one of the best things that could have happened to him. And while he still believed mere words would never be enough to fully express the depths of his feelings for Aoba, he found himself possessed by a sudden desire to at least try and tell him all the same. It couldn’t hurt. Even if adrenaline forced every nerve in his body on edge at the thought of saying something so personal out loud.

“They sure are pretty from up here,” said Aoba, breaking their silence at last. “I never thought I’d ever see them so clearly.”

Noiz didn’t respond. His heart was lodged firmly in his throat.

“It’s kind of romantic.”

The opportunity was too perfect to miss. Noiz swallowed hard. _“I-ich liebe dich.”_

“What?”

It was a good thing he didn’t blush nearly as easily as Aoba did. Still, his ears felt as if someone had taken burning matches to them. “Nothing.”

Aoba finally looked back at him. Noiz immediately dropped his eyes to the ground.

“There’s no way you’re not cold without a jacket.”

“I said I’m fine,” said Noiz, a little irritated by the sudden topic switch. Though he knew he had no right to be. Aoba didn’t understand a single syllable of German.

He froze when Aoba scooted as close as he could to him and wrapped his arms around Noiz’s shoulders.

“I’m cold, too, so I can’t let you borrow my hoodie,” said Aoba. “This will just have to do.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure. If you want.” More than a little petrified, he stared wide-eyed at Aoba, who was looking back up as if nothing had happened.

But once again, his cheeks were definitely on the pinker side.

With great care, making sure he didn’t put too much pressure on the bruise around Aoba’s eye, he gently rested his head against Aoba’s and was rewarded with Aoba leaning back against his.

“Thanks for bringing me up here tonight,” Aoba whispered. “I really like it.”

“No problem.” Noiz snuggled deeper into their embrace, feeling very warm and incredibly happy. Aoba had enjoyed what he showed him. What more could he ask for? So he took in the sky along with Aoba, and together they admired the way the stars swirled above them like glittering silver rivers.


End file.
